DOG BARKS STUDIO LEZMI Let sleeping dogs lie we love photography by Frederic Lezmi In all It’S glory a photo IS a photo IS DIgItal, IS analog, IS black/whIte & coloUr; IS an obJect, IS a book, IS a blog, IS a newSpaper, IS a MagazIne; IS a MovIe IS a Story, IS a StateMent; IS an InStallatIon, IS a ScUlptUre IS alwayS SoMeone’S trUth; getS loSt & FoUnD; IS technology IS an orIgInal, IS a copy, IS a reproDUctIon, IS UnlIMIteD onephotography IS theSI FUtUrengle & the paSt – photography IM IS agea MeDIUM In tran ISSItIon* only the tIp oF the Iceberg USe photography aS an InternatIonal langUage! never DISregarD progreSSIon 5 we want to See the IMageS we are MISSIng! photography IS too gooD to be regarDeD aS art only!** becherS vS. vIce Mag? tIllManS vS. lInDbergh? capa vS. MeISelaS? calle vS. arbUS? SchMID vS. FelDMann? rUScha vS. baltz? arbUS vS. toScanI ? leIbovItz vS. von Unwerth? kawaUchI vS. arakI? balDeSSarI vS. peterSen? teller vS. hIroMIx? SherMan vS. holDt? teMpleton vS. golDIn? nachtwey vS. wall? FrIeDlanDer vS. gUrSky? Soth vS. aDaMS? FontcUberta vS. epSteIn? wInogranD vS. barney? cahUn vS. Mapplethorpe? rIStelhUeber vS. golDblatt? hUgo vS. ShIga? Snow vS. FreUnD? haSSInk vS. MIkhaIlov? grahaM vS. penn? aveDon vS. MorIyaMa? MeISel vS. rUFF? ! ant!Foto IS For all thoSe whoRautert Timm by: wantQuote ** 2012 Folkwang Museum th symposium, IS a of Title , too!transition: in Medium *A Antifoto and the Antifoto-Manifesto by Katja Stuke and Oliver Sieber 4 GO FETCH! Ersin Pertan: Set photographs of a censored movie by Laurence “Lolo” Cornet All the photographs feautured in this article are the property of Annie G. Pertan. In November 2012, Recep Tayyip Erdogan pronounced outra- An independent director inspired by local history, on their side, finally destroyed it once in power ged remarks on Magnificent Century (Muhtesem Yüzyıl), a TV Refiğ kept away from the criticisms of the Turkish for the official reason that it belittled Mustafa show depicting the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, focusing so-called intellectuals who only praised occiden- Kemal’s (Ataturk) role during the war of Indepen- on his conquests, of course, but mostly on his controversial tal values and pursued his project despite the dance by focusing on other actors of this major Harem life. The Prime Minister officially announced his disappro- media’s harsh criticism. historical event such as Circassian leader Çer- val, calling the show an insult to Turkey’s history and ancestors. kez Ethem. Screenings have continued despite the government’s virulent The Tired Soldier was based on a novel by Ke- attacks against the TV channel and the series’s creators. Thirty mal Tahir, a friend of Refig’s and a Marxist who Petran’s photographs offer an insider’s view on years earlier, The Tired Soldier (Yorgun Savasci), a movie about spent most of his youth in jail for his ideas that the controversial film that to this day remains the Turkish War of Independence directed by Halit Refiğ for the strongly opposed Western foreign policy. Such largely unknown. They were turned into a photo TV channel TRT, was the subject of a harsher censorship: nega- a movie had a potential to create a sensation roman that was the only trace of the movie un- tives were burned and the film never released. All that remains worldwide, especially since it was shot between til a copy of it was rediscovered. They are the of this 8 hour film is a printed and non-reproducible copy and 1978 and 1980, a dry phase in Turkey for cine- testimonies of an art crime that has never been a few dozens of stills taken by Ersin Pertan. Browsing through ma production and a period of extreme political claimed. They give a sense of Refiğ’s determina- Pertan’s photos is like diving into the world of Halit Refiğ. They uncertainty that led to the September 12th 1980 tion as well as of his directing ideas. 7 do justice to his firm, professionnal exigence and spread the Coup: some days, as many as 20 people were visually epic atmosphere he distilled in his film despite the gene- killed, be it by “leftists” or “rightists”. The army, One can feel the earth tremble and the flags ral opposition he endured. who first supported the movie to keep people shudder in battle scenes, as well as grasp the GO FETCH! A DOG’S LIFE Street photographer: Fikri Barut by Berge Arabian I am the photographer here at Eminonu. My name is Fikri Barut. I have been in Istanbul since 1974. I am originally from Samsun in the Black Sea area. I did not become a photographer right away. I am now in my fifties but when I first came to Istanbul, I was a young man and like many of the young who had moved in from the provinces, I found myself a job in a sock factory. My brother was here already and he was working the streets photographing tourists and visitors. He encouraged me to become a street photographer like himself. Actually it turned out to be better than the factory job. tension of war in the formal and respectful sa- lutes. It is also an occasion to rediscover some You know, in those days not everyone had a came- icons of Turkish cinema such as Can Gürzap, in ra. So people like me were in demand. It was not the role of Mustafa Kemal, in the early years of his like nowadays. Like everything, cheap and availa- career. ble technology has ruined our trade: everyone has a camera or a phone to take photos with now. Still, This specific collection ofYorgun Savasci set there are the few who come to touristic sites unpre- photographs is only a small part of an irreplace- pared, so we have to take their photos as souvenir able documentation of Turkish cinema. A director pieces to keep after they go back home. Also, I think a street photo taken just like the old days has a taste and a founding member of the Association of Film of nostalgia and there are a few people still who have Directors, Writers and Composers, Ersin Pertan a sense of nostalgia. So they like their photo taken by immersed himself in the cinema world as a set someone like me. I think you are one of those people. photographer and spent his life capturing this bustling scene with the camera he never forgot I work with a Pentax now but originally I started with to bring along with him to shootings and other a Polaroid and then switched to a German Retina dinners. His archives include a myriad of pho- which I used for 13 years. So I have been using the tographs that draw an intimate and exhaustive Pentax for almost 25 years. I shoot and then I do history of Turkish cinema unfolding over 40 years. my printing on a Cannon printer. It is practical. At the price I charge for a print, I cover my costs and get to keep a bit of money. I work most days except Tuesdays. A PUBLISHING COMMUNITY FORMED BY PHOTO- 8 My brother also still works. He is on the other side of GRAPHERS WHO BELIEVE IN CREATING HIgh-qUALI- the bridge. I do not think we will do this trade forever TY BOOKS, EMPOWERING ARTISTIC AND EDITORIAL because there are fewer and fewer customers. But DECISIONS TO OURSELVES. RED HOOK EDITIONS IS there is still something good about this trade even A NEW MODEL: PHOTOGRAPHERS WILL TAKE ON though there are not many of us left: I meet all kinds MANY RESPONSIBILITIES, FROM FUNDING TO AD- of people from all over the country and I never see VERTISING TO DISTRIBUTION, BUT WILL CRUCIAL- them again but I guess the photographs I take of LY RETAIN CONTROL AND OWNERSHIP. WITH OUR them, remain... COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND WIDE NETWORKS, WE HELP PHOTOGRAPHERS DESIGN, PUBLISH, AND DISTRIBUTE THEIR OWN BOOKS, AND MAKE MONEY. THE RED HOOK EDITIONS COMMUNITY WILL MEET 9 SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR IN BROOKLYN, WITH ADVI- SERS AND EXPERTS IN RELEVANT FIELDS, TO INTEN- SIVELY WORKSHOP LABORS OF LOVE INTO FINISHED Top image: Fikri Barut by Berge Arabian FORM BETWEEN THE COVERS OF BEAUTIFUL BOOKS. WWW.REDHOOKEDITIONS.COM Bottom image: Berge Arabian by Fikri Barut 11 DOG YEARS Studio Jonker by Arjen Zwart 13 NATURA MORTA 15 I am Curious (Yellow), directed by Vilgot Sjöman, 1967 DOGMA more disturbing issue. Since the Egyptians, and even The scissors in the head before, it was commonplace to censor history. The victors carved their pictorial history into stone. And by Jason Eskenazi during modern times Soviet censors in the Stalin era certainly tried to erase out of favor personages from historical propaganda. As a former curator for a new international photo festival, two years running, I had to deal with an issue I never dealt with before: censorship. It reminded me I had invited an American photographer, on the of a time, not too long ago, when I worked in a big recommendation of a friend, to show Jewish Holo- New York museum and guarded a Gustave Courbet caust portraits that had hand written stories of their exhibition which contained the infamous Origin of the experiences on the photographs. During one of the the World painting. It was separated from the rest last meetings about the festival content with the city of the exhibition by a black curtain with a warning municipality it was related to me indirectly that we about its sexual content. There were certainly nudes should exclude this show.